Beam leaps

[cazoon]

I'm a level 5 and am struggling with getting my leaps on beam to be big. I have a great leap on floor and a full split, but when I move it to a beam it is the tiniest leap ever. My coaches told me that I keep going up instead of splitting my legs, but it just doesnt seem to get better. Any tips? Thanks!

 

[gymgurl]

Confidence is key!

I used to be really shy about my leaps on beam and would hence never go for full split, you really have to attack the skill with all you have got and not be scared to fall. forget the beam is even there!

You could also do some on a line to get your confidence up

 

[iwannacoach]

Leaps!!! Do lots of leaps, but before you do them do a whole bunch of leaps to prepare for those leaps that you wanted to work on in the first place. And when your done......do more leaps.

Beyond that, and probably more important, you must make every effort to make each leap a little bigger. Keep making them feel bigger, until you're scaring yourself silly. Leave it that big for the rest of the practice, and you'll get used to it.

How's that cast handstand looking?

 

[storms06]

i Had the same problem and what i did was put foam blocks on the beam and leap over them every time i felt comfortable going over it i would add another block until finally you take the blocks away but keep your p\leap the same. it helps your leap go more up instead of out.

 

[flipandtwist]

There's not much you can do besides practice. I highly do not recommend using foam blocks because as opposed to working on making the entire leap better, you focus just on height and if you practice, when you need to go back to a good leap with good technique it will fail you (at least in my experience).
Do you have a floor beam at the gym? If you do, start there. Make your leap a little bit bigger each time and if you get to a point where it's really scaring you, get bigger one more time and keep it there for a while.
You may have to work back up every practice to get your confidence back up. The key is just to get a little better each time. Instead of having a goal of a perfect leap, think I want to get a little higher today.